Dash of Inspiration: It’s All in the Type
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
It’s All In The Type
For the card designer who is serious about creating quality cards, understanding that typography is a critical element in your overall design, and one that can either show off your design as professional, or make your card look like it was created by an amateur – knowing how to make good choices … is a MUST.
Do you know the difference between the three types of fonts? – TrueType, PostScript and OpenType
If you want a font to be able to remain sharp and legible in all sizes, therefore scalable without degradation, choose a True Type Font. Post Script fonts are most commonly used by professional printing houses for books and magazines due to the level of quality and detail they possess. Open Type fonts include the basic set of characters, just like True Type, but also include an extended range of characters, such as; detailed shapes, old style numerals, or small capitalization – otherwise, they too can be scaled and remain clear, therefore most likely the best choice for the greeting card artist.
I stumbled on these informative articles which were the inspiration for today’s “It’s All in the Type” post.
Styles, Weights, Widths — It’s All in the (Type) Family by Yves Peters
Inside Paragraphs: Typographic Fundamentals Explores The Space Between The Characters
Common Typography Mistakes: Apostrophes Versus Quotation Marks by Sonia Mansfield
The designer’s guide to special characters by Jason Cranford Teague
If you are new to GCU, or to the GCU Community Blog, we have a ton of great typography tips as well as many, many links to wonderful fonts for your design box.
Remember, when you add typography to your card front it should be used as a design element which helps to make the card stand out and convey the message. Not an after-thought where you try to shove the text into a small space where it’s barely legible, squish it onto the very top or very bottom in tiny print, or plaster it across the front of an otherwise lovely visual. These are all mistakes which will set your card apart as being created by an amateur. Be creative, choose your font, placement, color and effects wisely. Know from the moment you begin to design a card where that text should be for balance, legibility and for communicating your message – and know when to make a bold use of a font choice, like these examples:
Or … when to let your text be subtle, allowing the image to be bold and the typography to whisper – as in these examples:
Okay, now on to a few FREE CU Fonts for you! As always, be sure to read the TOU before using elements in your designs.
Exmouth by PrimaFont
Lovers Quarrel by TypeSETit
Rawengulk by glukfonty
So, until next week … Learn … Create … Inspire!
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